Door mount and actuator



Jun 19,1951

Filed June 17, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 C aving Lundine G E. LUNDINE: 2,557,749 DOOR MOUNT AND ACTUATOR u 1951 G. E. LUIVDINE 2,557,749

DOOR MOUNT AND ACTUATOR Filed June 17, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 3 Men tor G.E|uin9 Lundine Gliorneg spring utilized to move, a

Patented June 19, 1951 DOOR MQUNII AND ACTUATOR Gustav Elving .Lundin e, Jamestown, ,N. .Y., ..as

signor to Jamestown Steel Partitions, Inc.,

"Falconer,

'N. Y., a corporation ,ofNew York Application.;June;-17, 1947,. Serial N 0. 755,123

' '7 Claims.

:{Ihis.invention relates to improvementsin cabinets andparticularly-to structureby which to .Inountand actuatethe doors thereof.

Thepresent invention, is; found to be well, suited to the installation of ,doors of utility cabinets -r.or;cupboards wherein frequently required articles, suchas food products cleaning equipment, tools, etc, mayrbestored. Access to a cabinet or cup boardof this type, particularly when located in a kitchen, is very frequent, and alarge door and opening are generally provided for greater convenience. Ithas been found,however, that these .largedoors areof the nature of a hazard as they are frequently left open, or swing open from a presumed closed positioned into that area of a roomor passage in which a person may be re- ;quired to move about. Of course, latches of .various kinds ma be provided for securing a ,door in closed position and also some type of door into latching position. The application of such structure to the door of a cabinet of this type is objectionable by reason of cost of installation and the nuisance that-a person nust hold :the door open against the spring action with one :hand .while placing articles in, or removing them from a cabinet.

It is;a purp ose andobject of the presentinven- .tion to provide a simpleandeasily installed cabinet 'door pivot and actuator.

.It is also 'angobject of the inventionto provide a door .pivot :thatenables use of a small, inconspicuous spring structure as anyactuator to urge a .door into-closed or opened position.

;It:is:a,furtherobject ,of the invention to pro- .vide spring structure that :will urge into and yieldingly hold ,a door in closed position and, when thedoor has been opened beyond a certain point, urge it into and yieldingly hold it in fully opened :position.

Other objects and advantages of the invention .will *be more fully understood and appreciated from a consideration of the 'followingspecification, takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings; and :in which Fig.11.is a perspective view of an open door cabinet, .one :form of the invention being shown applied to mount and eifect limited actuation of the-door;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view, partly-in section, showing one of thepivotal supports and spring actuator for the door;

'Fig. -3"is afragmentary top -view,.partly broken away and sectioned, showing the spring holding the door in :closed position;

.LEig. :4 lis :a :View :similar to Fig. 3 and shows the limit to which the door might be manually open and aut ma i lly cl s b -sprins r byabead nstrip 24 whic tion; and

Ei .5 is a view similar ;to Fig. showing the acti nof thelsp ins t h ldpthedoor opened position, th do landfla he in a tion of the;.-sprins:to;m v th d0or into ,Zfully opened p si on- Referrin morepart cularly t th d aWi ia the reference num ra 51:0 isl mplo ed t -.s e 1al designate a cabinet or :cupboar .o the y which t e rresentiinyent on is parti ularl Well su t d- Tll icabinet sh wn nc de sid ill, rear :wall rtfiytop 413. and itSe it. Al u h .of-no particular importance to the presentinvenjtionthe Iront ed es o the id Wallsin ll flan es lat-hat serve to i lishtlyrr stri h zw ;of-th,e cabinet access opening. The opening ,to the cabinet isclosedby-a door i ,ln-thapresent -disclosure, thacabinet is shown to belconstructed eof :metal and th doo 1: h efo in l de einforcing .flanges E8 :on :its marg inal ed ges. For .additionalsupportat the .point of ivotal con- .nection, topand bottomre nforcmerl e l in ay be permanently securedto theinner ,face of the stop :and ibottom flan 1:

Thatportion of the z base M thatdefines-the bottom of the? cabinet access opening is shown ;to include a sill 52,1 and ;an upstanding stop -22. Although the sill extends-the full width r the opening, the stop fian e @2 2 terminates short of ,oneend, leaving a gap, indicatedat 23in Fig. :1. 'Theztop'of theiaccess opening may be {formed includes .a horizontal portion 26 .an a d pe d n s p a s 5" Th flange ,2?! is ;in a the same xvertical plane as :fiange 22, and thus cooperates, when .the door is urged in closed position, ;to cause .itsouter face to be substantially flush with the flanges 1,6 .of the s ide;-panels -l-;l. ;As;-indicate d;in Eig. 2,.the,.fiange 12,1 stopsshort; of the-horizontal portion .16., Jeav- :ing an end gap 3-28 similarto ,the gap .23 of the sill. .;A strap springgs is-rnountedon the inner :face of 'the flange-121 inany suitable manner, as by;-pins or rivets,..3l. FIhis .springrincludesa :fiat portion 32 which abuts the flange 52.1, and .a

curved orrarchedgportioniisfi. fl'heportion 33 -,t,er

minates .intzasomewgha r le re d and the latter parts, as may be seen inther drawing over lie "the .gap :or cut-away 28.

.In the present disclosure, the door If? is provided with top and bottom pivot ins .36 that extend throughsuitableope i gs .31 in the .hori- -zontal portions ;of the sill .and header; The pivotal .point of the door, .as identified by the sug e in th is urged inwardly of the.

cabinet. It is not intended that the action of this spring be greater than enough to gentlyswing' position from the park;

the door into fully closed tially opened position suggested in Fig. 4. How- .ever, the action of the spring is sufiicient at all times to hold the door against inadvertent open-' ing. Thus, the spring not only serves the same purpose as a door latch or catch, but also always urges the door into closed position when it has been swung from fully. opened to partially opened position. 5 T 3 Examination of 5- indicates th'at, when. a user of the cabinet wishes toiully open the door, the spring will also serve to hold the door in fully opened position,since the spring is so contoured and the inwardly swinging portion of thedoor rides into and seats in the curved portion 33 of the spring. Of course, this is not a socketed seat that requires special means of release and, therefore, the door, while remaining in fully openedposition, may be readily swung from this open position at least to the position shown in Fig. 4, from whence it will be closed by the pressure of the end of the spring. It will also be evident from the dot and dash line position of the door and spring in Fig. 5 that the pivotal relationship of the door to the spring is such that, when the door has nearly reached its fully opened-position, the spring will urge the door into such position. It will be understood that one spring 29 might be adequate for the purposes set out above. However, since the springs are of comparatively small proportions, are not appreciably exposed to view, and are easily installed, it has been found preferable, in a cabinet having a doorof the size shown in the drawing, to provide two springs, one at the top and the other at the bottom of the door.

From the foregoing it is evident that through the use of. one or more strap springs a cabinet or cupboard door may be made to swing into and remain in fully opened or fully closed position, provided the door pivots are located substantially as set out and the reversely swinging 'portion of the door beyond the pivots is of such proportions as to be contacted by the spring in substantially the manner shown.

Although applicant has shown and described only one form of his spring and pivot structure for urging a door into and yieldingly holding it in either fully opened or closed position, it will be apparent thatvariations in the spring, spring mounting, and door pivotsmay be made and are contemplated insofar as they are within the spirit and scope of the invention as set out in the 'anneXed claims.

Having thus set forth my-invention what I claim as new and for which I desire protection by Letters Patent is:

1. In a cabinet having anaccess opening and a door adapted to close said opening; a door mount and actuator comprising a pair of pins extending beyond the top and bottom edges of said door, said pins being located adjacent the face of and somewhat remote from one ver door pivot so located that the .tion, and spring .means top' and bottom- 4 tical edge, a sill and header forming base and top margins of said door opening and having apertures adapted to receive said pins, and spring means secured to at least one of said margins engageable with that portion of said door between said pins and the vertical door edge.

2. In a cabinet having an access opening defined in part by a sill. and header and a door adapted to close said opening; a door mount and actuator comprising top and bottom pivots carried by said door, said sill and header having apertures idrreceiving said pivots, said pivots and apertures being located inwardly from one vertical edge of said door, said door edge thus being swingable into the cabinet interior when said door is swungoutwardly toward open posisecured to said cabinet the path of and being ento urge said andprojecting into gages by said door edge and serving doorinto fully closed position.

3. In a cabinet, a header and sill defining the ct an access opening, a door adapted to close said opening, top and bottom pivot pins on said door set inwardly of the door edge adistance greater than the door thickness, said header and sill having apertures for receiving said pins, and a spring attached to said header, an end portion of saidspring having pressure contactwith the edge portion of said door adjacent the top pivot pin.

4, In a cabinet; a header and sill defining the top and bottom of an access opening, a door adapted to close said opening, top and bottom pivot pins on said door, said header and sill having apertures for receiving said pins, said pins being so located inwardly of one vertical edge of said door toenable said one vertical edge to swing into the cabinet interior beyond said header and sill when said door is moved toopened position, a spring attached at one end to said header, the other end of said spring normally having pressure contactwith said door edge, and an intermediate portion of said spring and said door edge being interengageable to yieldingly hold said door in a fully opened position.

5. In a cabinet, a header and sill defining the top and bottom of an access opening, a door adapted to close said opening; a stop flange on said header for determining the closed position of said door, top and bottom pivot pins on said door, said header and sill having apertures for receiving said pins, said stop flange having a slot adjacent the location of its pivot pin aperture, a strap spring secured at one end to that portion of said flange adjacent said slot, the other end of said spring projecting into said slot and normally having pressure contact with the pivoted edge portion of said door, said spring serving to yieldingly hold said door in abutment with said stop flange.

6. In a cabinet, a top and bottom of an access opening, a door adapted to close said opening, a stop flange on said header for determining the closed-position of said door, top and bottom pivot pins on said door, said header and sill having apertures for receiving said pins, said pins and apertures being so located as to cause the adjacent door edge to swing into the cabinet interior when said door is opened, said stop flange having a slot adjajacent the location of its pivot pin aperture, a strap spring, a flat end portion of said spring being secured to said flange adjacent said slot, the other end of said spring being aligned with said slot, an intermediate recessed portion of said header and sill defining the spring adapted to receive said door edge and yieldingly secure said door in fully opened position.

7. In a cabinet, a header and sill defining the top and bottom of an access opening, a door adapted to close said opening, a stop flange on said header for determining the closed position of said door, top and bottom pivot pins on said door, said header and sill having apertures for receiving said pins, said pins and apertures being so located as to cause the adjacent door edge to swing into the cabinet interior when said door is opened, said stop flange having a slot adjacent the location of its pivot pin aperture, a strap spring, a flat end portion of said spring being secured to said flange adjacent said slot, the other end of said spring normally projecting into said slot and having a curved portion terminating in REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 77,920 Fandei Apr. 21, 1868 1.831,800 Balesetal Nov. 17, 1931 

